My Dad, Tony Stark
by dolphingirl7
Summary: Rin Stark was the daughter of billionaire Tony Stark. Her life mainly consisted of playing flute and piano, and hanging out with her friends and cousin until one trip with her father to Afghanistan changed everything. Now, the life she once knew was gone. With a dark past also threatening to come to light, Rin tries to keep it together as her world changes drastically.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man or any of its characters. If it sounds familiar, I don't own it! Enjoy!

"Dad! We have to leave!" I called down to my dad. Naturally, him being Tony Stark, means he's never on time. We were already two hours late and I knew Rhodey wouldn't be happy. I was all packed and ready, but Dad was another story. I didn't even want to go to Afghanistan, but he really wanted me to go. Whatever. It was a break from school and I got to check off another country off my list (it was my goal to visit country at least once in my life).

"I'm coming, Rin!" He yelled back. I walked into the kitchen to find Pepper on the phone. She looked very flustered.

"I'm sorry, he'll be there soon," she sighed as she hung up.

"Rhodey?" I guessed.

"Yes," she muttered, "Rin, I want you to be careful there. It's not very safe there and I really am nervous about you going."

"Pepper, I'll be fine. Trust me, I'm not my dad. I don't try to attract attention."  
"I know, but I can still worry," Pepper said as Tony came up the stairs and walked out of the house.

"Katherine Maria Stark, we have to leave now," He yelled as he got into his car. I rolled my eyes as I took one last look at my piano. Dad had just gotten me a new one for a great piano and flute recital last month.

"You'll see you piano and flute in a few days, Rin," Pepper said as she motioned me to follow her, "They are not going anywhere. You would kill whoever touched them."

"Remember when I punched Peter because he touched my flute?" I said, giggling, thinking about my cousin.

"Yes," Pepper laughed, "I also remember having to tend to his black eye because of it."

"Hey, don't touch my instruments. Dad's the same way with his cars and some of his tools," I pointed out.

"Yes, he is," Pepper said as she finally managed to get me out of the house and to Dad's car waiting outside.

"Tony, when you get back you need to finish working on the budget for the new Arc Reactor project," Pepper said, "And the board wants to schedule a meeting with you, one that you actually end up attending, when you get back."

"Got it," he said, "Anything else, Miss Potts?"

"Nope. That will be all, Mr. Stark. Be safe, Rin," Pepper said as she walked to her car.

"Let's rock and roll, Rin," dad said as he pulled out of our driveway. I sighed as we sped down the highway towards the airport. Dad was never one to abide to the laws of the road, but I was used to it by now.

"Remind me why I had to come again?" I asked him.

"Because I like to spend time with my daughter. Is that a crime?" He asked.

"Nope," I said with a smile. We blasted AC DC the rest of the way to the airport and saw a very impatient Rhodey waiting for us.

"Where were you?" he asked as we walked up the steps to the jet, "Three hours I've been waiting."

"Waiting on you now," Dad said as we walked passed him and onto the plane. I rolled my eyes as I sat in a window seat. As week took off, I plugged in my headphones, closed my eyes and fell asleep.

When I awoke, Dad was oh-so-surprisingly drunk and partying with his flight attendants. I grabbed my laptop, and started a Harry Potter marathon. I was halfway through the third when we landed in Afghanistan.

"Ready to face the desert?" Dad asked me as I put on my sunglasses.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I said, as Rhodey passed us Kevlar vests. I slipped mine on before throwing another shirt on over it. Dad did the same and we walked off the plane. The air was dry and hot as we were herded into a Humvee. Rhodey headed into another one and we headed for the demo cite. It was, not surprisingly, surrounded by military men and interested potential buyers. I was the only woman there, and I suspected that the dirty glares sent my way were because of that. I rolled my eyes and continued on my merry way, standing next to my dad. I paid little attention to him as he gave his speech. I yawned as the Jericho missile blew up in the distance. Once you've seen one weapon of mass destruction blow up, you've seen them all. Honestly, I didn't like that dad made weapons. I didn't like war, and he was supplying for them. I always hoped that he stop producing them, but so far I've had no luck convincing him. I must have zoned out, because the next thing I knew dad had a scotch in his hand and was video chatting Obadiah. My stomach flipped as I thought about my dad's partner, but I shook it off.

"Looks like it's going to be an early Christmas," dad was saying, "Right, Rin?"

"Sure," I said noncommittally. Dad gave me a small look but I rolled my eyes and smiled. My dad put an arm around my shoulder and started steering me towards a Humvee.

"Hey Tony," Rhodey called as he started towards us. Apparently my dad was still a little sore about what happened on the plane (even though I really didn't know what happened) because his response was snarky.

"I'm sorry. This is the fun-vee. The hum-drum-vee is back there."

Rhodey rolled his eyes but went to the other one.

"Dad, that was rude," I said, giving him a look.

"He'll get over it. We had a little fight on the plane while you were lost in the 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter'," my dad smirked.

"Hey! It's Harry Potter! It's the best thing in this world!" I said as I got in the middle seat of the Humvee.

"I know you love it," he teased, "You only made me buy you all the merchandise you could dream of."

"You can afford it," I smiled.

"You bet I can," he said as we started moving across the dry countryside. We drove in silence for a while until he decided to speak up to the military men and woman.

"I feel like you're driving me to court martial. This is crazy. What did I do? I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forrest!" My dad said.

"Dad!" I groaned. He had no filter. It was embarrassing. These people were in charge of protecting us, and he was being an asshole.

"We can talk, sir," the one sitting next to me said. He was cute and seemed a little nervous.

"Oh, I see. So it's personal," dad said. I elbowed him and gave him a glare. He gave me a look that said "knock it off, I have this handled." There was no way he did, but I sighed and let him be.

"No, you intimidate them," the woman driving us said.

"Good God, you're a woman! I honestly, I couldn't have called that. I mean, I would apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first," dad said as he eyed her.

"Dad! Stop embarrassing us!" I muttered to him. I could not believe he just said that! That was a whole new level of idiocy and ignorance on his part.

"I'm an airman," she responded, giving me a small smile to say she could handle it. I nodded.

"Well, you have actually excellent bone structure there. I'm kinda having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?"

I groaned, giving up on this situation. But, as if some small miracle, the solider in front of us spoke up.

"Sir, is it true you went twelve for twelve with the Maxim girls last year?" he asked.

"That is an excellent question. Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins," dad responded with a small hint of pride. I had to swallow down my disgust at that.

"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" the solider next to me asked.

"Yes it is very cool," My dad said, leaning into me as the solider next to me passed his camera to the solider in front of us.

"I don't want to see this on your Myspace page," dad said as the soldier put up a peace sign, "And please, no gang signs."

The soldier went to lower it but dad added, "No, I'm kidding. Throw it up. Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace."

I smiled before I screamed as the Humvee in front of us exploded and guns started to fire.

"Rin!" dad yelled as he grabbed my hand.

"Jimmy, stay with the Starks," the woman said as she and the other soldier ran out into the craziness. I screamed again as one of the soldiers went flying over the car.

"Don't move!" Jimmy yelled as he ran out into the fire.

"Wait! Give me a gun! I need a gun!" dad yelled, but the only response we got was Jimmy being shot and the window exploding with blood. I screamed again as dad fumbled with the door.

"No! What are you doing?" I yelled at him through my tears.

"We have to get out of the car, Rin," dad said as he opened it.

"No! We'll head right into the war zone," I screamed.

"Rin, you have to trust me," he said while getting out of the car and pulling me out as well. We ran for a few yards before collapsing by a rock, both in shock.

"We're going to be okay," dad said, but he didn't sound convinced. Just then, a missile landed in front of us. One labeled "Stark Industries."

"Shit!" dad yelled as we backed up, but we weren't fast enough. The missile exploded, sending both of us backwards. Pain erupted throughout my body and I saw blood. I looked over to my dad and saw blood seeping through his shirt. We locked eyes, his wide with fear as he looked at me before he blacked out. I looked down at my chest and saw what scared him so much. Unlike him, my chest wasn't bleeding, but my stomach was and blood was dripping off my face in streams. I screamed before blacking out as well.

AN: Welcome to my new story! This is my first Avengers FanFiction and it takes place during Iron Man. I will try and update once a week. Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I do not own Iron Man or anything that sounds familiar. Thanks to all who reviewed!

Warning: There is some cursing in this chapter.

When I awoke, it was dark. I couldn't see very far and I was in pain. It was very musty and cool and I was scared. I didn't know where I was and I couldn't see my dad.

"Dad?" I called out. When he didn't answer I began to panic. "Dad!"

"He's still asleep, Miss Stark," a man's voice said.

"Who are you?" I asked, growing nervous.

"My name is Yinsen. I am here to help you," he said before I felt myself slipping through the darkness once more.

Next time when I came to, I didn't open my eyes immediately. I felt someone holding my hand. I knew it was my dad before I even saw him. His warmth was reassuring, mainly because I knew he was alive. I slowly opened my eyes and, again, it was dark, but I could make out the shadow of my dad sitting next to me.

"Daddy?" I asked weakly. He squeezed my hand.

"Right here, sweetheart," he said softly, "I'm right here."

"Where are we?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"We've been kidnapped, Rin," Dad said nervously, "I don't know what they want."

"How long have you been awake?"

"About a day now. You've been so still," he said as he caressed my cheek.

"I woke up once and you were still out," I said, trying to get a closer look at him. I saw something hooked up to his chest. I sat up quickly before gasping as my stomach exploded in pain.

"Careful!" Dad said, "You have a lot of shrapnel in your stomach that was removed. The wound is still very tender."

"What else did I hurt?"

"Well, from what I can gather, you have a concussion, you had the stomach thing, and I'm pretty sure there are bruises. You're head lost a lot of blood and it looks like it hasn't fully closed yet," he said as he frowned. I finally saw that the thing hooked up to his chest was a car battery.

"And you? What's wrong with your chest?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"No, you're not. Dad, you have a car battery hooked up to your chest," I said, feeling panicky.

"He has shrapnel making its way to his heart, Miss Stark," Yinsen said, "The car battery is keeping it from spreading to his heart."

"Dad? Are you going to die?" I asked.

"No, Rin, I am not going to die," Dad said, sending a small glare at Yinsin, "I am going to fix us and get us out of here."

"How?" I asked, standing up, wobbling a little bit. Dad reached out to steady me.

"I'm fine," I said shaking him off, "I want to help get us out of here."

"Miss Stark, your injury is of a different nature of your father's. Yours could become infected very quickly," Yinsen warned.

"Then we have work to do," I said.

"Where are we?" Dad asked, as the door banged open and dad pulled me behind him.

"Just do as I do," Yinsen hissed at us, "Come on, put your hands up." He stood straight up with his hands in the air. I stayed behind dad as we both did the same.

"Those are my guns. How did they get my guns?" Dad asked, clearly freaked. I felt my heart speed up as I clearly saw the 'Stark Industries' logo on the sides of the guns.

"Do you understand me? Do as I do," Yinsen said as dad stopped moving. The man in charge started speaking, but he spoke a language I couldn't understand, and neither could my dad by the confused look on his face. Yinsen realized this and translated for us.

"He says, 'Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America.'

He is honored. He wants you to build the missile. The Jericho missile that you demonstrated."

Dad and I looked at each other before the guy pulled out a set of blue prints and pointed to it.

"This one," Yinsen said. Dad held his chin up confidently.

"I refuse," He responded, in a final sort of voice. I gasped, knowing that these terrorists would do anything to get him to do what they wanted, including hurting us. Next thing I knew, I was pulled away from my father and a bag was thrown over my head.

"Dad!" I screamed as I felt my self being pulled. I tried to fight back but ended up getting hit in the mouth. I gasped in surprise and pain.

"Rin!" He yelled. From what I could tell, someone had thrown a bag over his head as well as his voice sounded muffled. I was led to another room before my bag was torn from my head. Dad was across from me, in front of a bucket of water. I knew where this was heading, although I wished I didn't. I screamed as they forced his head under, watching him struggle to breath. They pulled him back up after a minute or so and he gasped for air before being forced under again.

"Please!" I begged, "Stop this! Please!"

It hurt to watch my dad getting tortured like this. I was sobbing by the time they finally gave up torturing him about an hour later.

"Jericho," the lead man said again. Dad looked at him with weary eyes before shaking his head. Next thing I knew, we were swapped and my head was forced in the water. I felt my lungs protesting the longer I was held under. I struggled to get free, which just resulted with my head getting pushed farther under. Just when I was about to pass out, I was pulled out. I gasped for breath and heard my dad pleading with them before my head was plunged under again. When I was brought up again, I was gasping and coughing. However, soon I was forced under for a third time. I stopped struggling, knowing it was futile. I thought I was going to die. My lungs felt like they were about to burst due to the lack of oxygen, and was the most painful sensation I have ever felt. About a half hour of this, they pulled me up.

"Jericho," the man said again.

"Dad, don't do it!" I screamed, "I'd rather die than give them the Jericho!"

My dad met my eyes and I knew he was torn. He didn't want them to have the missile either, but neither of us were in a position to negotiate. I sighed in relief as I watched him shake his head again. And then I was punched in the ribs. I gasped in pain before being hit again, this time my face. My dad screamed for them to stop, which they did a few minutes later. I knew my nose and mouth were bleeding and my ribs were bruised. They put the bags over our heads again and we were outside with Yinsen. We looked out and saw boxes upon boxes of our weapons. I gasped.

"He wants to know what you think," Yinsen said, taking up the role of translator again.

"I think you got a lot of my weapons," Dad said, his jaw hard set with fury.

"He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile," Yinsen said carefully, "He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you and your daughter free."

"No, he won't," Dad and I said together.

"No, he won't," Yinsen agreed. We were led back into our cave and Yinsen looked at us.

"I'm sure they're looking for you, Starks," Yinsen said, slowly, "But they will never find you in these mountains. Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?"

"Why should I do anything? They're going to kill us either way," Dad said, looking defeated, "And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week."  
"Dad!" I gasped, tears filling me eyes, "You said you weren't going to die!"

"Yeah, and that was before they tortured me and short circuited the car battery," Dad said before looking at me, staring at my bruised face.

"Shit, Rin, are you okay?" He asked reaching out to stroke my bruised cheek. I flinched as he touched a particularly sore spot. He apologized quickly.

"Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?" Yinsen asked as dad looked between me, Yinsen and the terrorists. He sighed in resignation.

"If this is going to be my work station," he finally said, "I want it well-lit. I want these up. I need welding gear. I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets. I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools."

He looked to Yinsen, and asked "How many languages do you speak?"

"A lot," Yinsen responded with a shrug, "But apparently, not enough for this place. They speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, Russian."

"Who are they?" I asked, wondering who could have this many of dad's weapons without us knowing about this. While I didn't pretend to know everyone dad sold to, I knew he didn't sell to these terrorists.

"They are your loyal customers, Miss Stark. They call themselves the Ten Rings," He told me as dad started moving around the room and pointing things out, "They are a terrorist organization based in the mountains of Afghanistan, a place where we will never be found."

"Yeah, so you've mentioned," I said as I sat down, clutching my bruised ribs. The terrorists left with dad's list of items and he walked over to me, kneeling in front of me.

"You okay?" He asked.

"No. Are you?" I asked.

"Not really," He admitted. He wrapped his arms around me as tears started rolling down my cheeks. He held me in silence for a while, rocking me back and forth as I cried.

"Dad, I'm so scared," I said, "I thought you were going to die. Then I thought I was going to die."

"I was scared too," He whispered, "I thought I was going to lose you. Rin, I promise I will do everything I can to get us out of here."

"I know you will," I said, wiping my tears away, "But I am never going on another demonstration with you again."

Dad laughed softly and Yinsen walked over to us with a bowl of rice and beans.

"Eat up," he said, "This is all we have for today."

Dad and I split what was left (as Yinsen had a portion already) and I tried to stand to go wash the dish, but I gasped in pain.

"What hurts?" Dad asked.

"My ribs," I whimpered, "They hurt really bad, daddy."

"Why don't you try and sleep," dad said, sounding concerned.

"But I want to help," I said.

"I'll need your help when you wake up, sweetheart," Dad said, "But you'll be more help when you're feeling better."

I nodded before lying down on my cot.

"I love you, dad," I said. He bent down and kissed my forehead.

"I love you too, Rin," He said before getting up. I closed my eyes and managed to find my way into an uneasy sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Sorry for taking so long to post another chapter! Life got in the way. Hopefully, now I will be able to post more often. As always, please leave a review!

Warnings: There is some mentions of torture in the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or Iron Man. If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Enjoy!

When I next awoke, Dad and Yinsen were busy at work. I also felt as though I had been hit by a truck, but knew that I had to help. The faster we finished, the sooner we would get to go home, and boy did I want to go home. I groaned as I sat up.

"Rin!" Dad said as he ran over to me, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, not great, but okay," I said, figuring if I said fine, he wouldn't be happy.

"Do you think you can help me?" he asked, looking carefully at me.

"Yeah, as long as I don't have to lift too much," I said, motioning to my ribs and stomach, both of which really hurt.

"Can I take a look at your stomach and make sure it isn't infected?" Dad asked. I nodded wordlessly and lifted my shirt. He brought over a lantern and frowned a little.

"What's wrong?" I asked nervously.

"It's a little red around the wound. If we don't get medical help soon, it won't be too good, Rin," he said carefully.

"Guess it is important week for both of us then, huh?" I asked as I stood up.

"Yeah, sweetheart, so it appears," he sighed. He led me over to the tools and pointed at a stool.

"You'll be doing delicate hand work. I figured that your musical hands might be good at this, my dear," he smiled at me. I looked around at the table. Now, I'm no engineering person, but what he was working on looked nothing like the Jericho missile. The blueprints were for parts that had nothing to do with the weapon.

"Dad, what is this?" I asked, "I may not be a weapons expert, but that is not the Jericho."

"You're right. It's a miniature arc reactor," he said, handing me tweezers and pellets.

"What's it going to power?" I asked.

"It's going to save my life," he said cryptically, "Do you think you can follow the plans? I know you're not a science person."  
"What gave you that idea? The fact that I'm doing badly in chemistry right now at school or the complaining or the fact that I don't spend every minute building but playing?" I asked, raising the eyebrow.

"You're failing chemistry?" he gasped, "How?! You're my daughter! And you're a genius."

"A musical genius," I reminded him, "And I never said failing, just doing poorly. Besides, after missing this much school, I'm going to be retaking it anyway."

"Ok, but when we get out of here, we are having a very serious conversation, my dear," Dad said.

"Yes sir, and yes, I can follow plans. It's like reading a piece of music," I said.

Yinsen, who had been watching us back and forth like a tennis match, interjected with, "You know, we might be more productive if you included me in the planning process."

Dad looked between the two of us and moved the tweezer and pellets to Yinsen. He opened one and pulled out the inside.

"You see this?" Dad asked, "That's palladium, 0.15 grams. We need at least 1.6, so why don't you go break down the other eleven?"

Yinsen nodded and went to his corner of the workbench.

"What can I do?" I asked. Dad placed plans in front of me.

"I need you to start putting it together. I have certain parts built, but I need someone with steady hands, and you have the steadiest hands I know," Dad said. I nodded and started putting the reactor together with what he placed in front of me.

"What is an arc reactor?" Yinsen asked.

"It is something that should keep the shrapnel out of my heart. I got a big one powering my factory back home," Dad said.

"But what can it generate?" Yinsen asked.

"If my math is right, and it always is-"

"Three gigajoules per second," I interrupted my father. No need for him to feed his own ego.

My dad stared at me and said accusingly, "I thought you were failing chem?"

"Chem, not math, and I'm not failing!" I exclaimed, getting a little annoyed with him, "Besides, so much of music is math. And I'm in AP Calculus right now."

"Okay, so math and music genius," Dad said.

"That could run your heart for fifty lifetimes!" Yinsen said in awe.

"Yeah, or something big for fifteen minutes," Dad said, pulling out the plans for something even bigger than an arc reactor.

"This is our ticket out of here, Rin!" Dad said excitedly.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Flatten it out and look," he smiled.

"Impressive," I managed to get out after I saw the plans. If he could pull this off, and I had no doubt that he would, no one would be able to hurt us. That thought alone made me giddy, never mind actually getting out of this hellhole.

We worked silently for hours, all absorbed in our work. Soon, we finished the arc reactor and Dad sent me to bed while Yinsen put it in his body. I complied, too exhausted to argue with him. I fell asleep almost as soon as I laid down on the cot.

I was awakened by someone shaking me up.

"Wassup?" I groggily asked.

"You need to wake up. You've been asleep for hours, honey," Dad said.

"How long?" I asked, still feeling exhausted.

"Almost 16 hours," Yinsen from across the room, looking at his watch.  
"What?" I gasped, sitting up, almost immediately regretting the movement as I groaned in pain right after.

"Rin! Be careful," Dad warned.

"I will," I said, as I moved gingerly. I felt a slight burning around my stomach wound, but figured that it was normal and ignored it.

"Is that it?" I asked, looking at my father's chest.

"Yeah," he said, tapping the blue light, "No more danger for me. But you, we need to get you seen by a doctor as soon as possible and get some antibacterial cream on it."

We worked on the metal suit for hours until we were all exhausted. That was how the next few days went, wake up, work until we were exhausted, then go to bed. After what must have been six or seven days of this, we finally got to actually building again.

"What can I do that isn't too much building beyond what I did last time?" I asked.

"You are going to hold things in place for me while I weld things," he said, "If you can manage. If not, you can keep us company."

"I can manage. I'm not weak," I said.

"Sweetheart, you don't need to tell me you're not weak. I've known that since you were five and your mom left you on my doorstep with a letter and a backpack."

"Thanks for bringing that up," I mumbled, "As if this place wasn't bad enough."

"You were the strongest little girl I ever met, and so obviously my kid. The first thing you said to me was 'I'm Katherine Stark, you're Tony Stark, I'm your daughter, and if you call me Katie, I'll bite you.' Remember that?" Dad asked, laughing a little bit.

"Yeah, I do," I said, a ghost of a smile on my face, a question bothering me in my head, one I never got answered, "Did she say in the letter why she didn't want me?"

Dad froze, and my heart plummeted.

"It was because she hated me, right? She didn't want me?" I asked, feeling like a little kid again.

"No, Rin, it wasn't that," he said, clearly trying to formulate an answer in his head, "Tara, she just wasn't meant to be a mother. She wasn't ready or responsible enough. Neither was I, but I fell in love with you with the first words out of your mouth."

"Was it my fault? Was I not good enough?" I asked, tears falling down my face. I had no idea where these feelings were coming from.

"No, no, no, honey," Dad said, "You're perfect. You are beautiful, talented, wonderful, kind, caring, the list goes on and on. I wouldn't trade you for the world. Your mom, well, she wasn't mentally ready to care for you. Your grandmother raised you with her and when she died, your mom tried for a year to do it herself, and just couldn't. She knew that I could give you a much better life than she could."

He gently wiped the tears from my eyes as he spoke, and wrapped me in a hug when he was done.

"You're the best dad a girl could ask for," I said, "And I know I haven't been easy. And I'm a bit of a disappointment because I don't want to follow in the Stark family footsteps of weapons manufacturing."

"You're not a disappointment at all, Rin, you're perfect. You are the greatest musician, and all I want for you is to be happy. Besides, I don't think I'm manufacturing any more weapons after this," he said.

"Why?" I gasped.

"Because someone is selling under the table and while I do an investigation before selling again. I don't know who could organize the shipments," Dad said.

"I bet I know," I mumbled, thinking of my dad's creepy bald partner.

"What was that?" Dad asked. To tell, or not to tell. What if he didn't believe me? I don't think I could handle that right now.

"Nothing," I sighed, "I think that's a good decision."

"It's the right one. I know it is. This can't go on anymore. This wasn't what my dad wanted with the company and it isn't what I want. I'll put more money into the energy division and medical division," he said.

"Cool," I said as the door opened and the terrorists returned. Dad pushed me behind him, but they grabbed me out anyway.

"Rin!" He called. They moved me to the workbench and pressed my face into it. They were speaking but I was too focused on the hot coal that was making its way towards my face. Oh god, no please don't do this. Just as it was about to be placed on my cheek, it was removed and I was held upright. I let out a sigh of relief, but that turned out to be done too early. The terrorist placed my hand on the table, grabbed a hammer, and slammed it down on my middle finger. I heard the break before I felt it, but then I did feel it, and I couldn't hold back my scream. They left and I collapsed to the floor.

"Rin," Dad said running to me.

"Oh my god no," I moaned, "Of everything they could do to me, everything, they had to break my finger. What if I can't play again? Oh god."

"Rin, don't worry about that," Dad said, "You'll play again, I promise. Let me splint it."

I nodded and held it out for him to splint, hissing as he accidently touched it. He used a piece of metal and some cloth to splint it to my ring finger.

"Is that too tight?" he asked gently.

"No, it's fine. What were they saying?" I asked as I stood up with his help.

"We have less than twenty four hours to finish the suit," he said quietly.

"NO!" I gasped.

"Rin, it's almost done. We'll be fine. I promise. Besides, Yinsen is helping me. I'm not alone. But you, you are going to bed and I'll wake you when it's go time."

"Will you stay until I fall asleep?"

"Of course, baby," He said, leading me to the cot. I laid on it and he hummed to me as I tried to sleep.

"Next time I see you, we'll be getting out of here," he said, kissing my forehead. I fell asleep soon after.

"You ready to get out of here?" Dad asked as he woke me up.

"Yes!" I said excitedly. I got up quickly, noticing an even more painful burning in my stomach, but it was okay because we were leaving today. I would be getting help soon. Yinsen and dad were loading the data into the metal man that we would be escaping in. The way it would work was I would go in the back, dad in the front, and Yinsen would follow behind us. But, like most of our plans, it didn't go the way we wanted it to, and we heard crashing in the hallway. We had a bomb rigged to explode as soon as someone opened the door, but they were too early.

"You get in!" Dad yelled at me. I nodded and got in. Dad got in after me and closed the suit.

"Get behind us," He said to Yinsen. He didn't listen but instead waited for the doors to get blown open. He then grabbed a gun.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"I'm gonna go buy you some time!" Yinsen said.

"Stick to the plan!" Dad yelled, "Stick to the plan!"

But he was gone. Dad cursed but as soon as the suit was done loading, he followed Yinsen's trail. He blasted people and bullets bounced off of him. I kept my arms securely around him the entire time, almost afraid to let go.

"Starks!" I heard Yinsen yelled. I looked over to where his voice was coming from and chocked back a sob. He was shot, multiple times it seemed, all to save our lives.

"Come on. We got to go," Dad said, but it was clear that Yinsen couldn't move anymore, "Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We're gonna stick to it."

"This was always the plan, Stark," Yinsen said with a sad smile. Tears were now rolling down my cheeks, and I was sure my dad could feel them.

"Come on, you're gonna go see your family. Get up," Dad pleaded with him.

"My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark. It's okay. I want this. I want this," Yinsen said weakly.

"Thank you for saving us," Dad said, and he almost sounded teary.

"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life. Rin, you too," Yinsen said. And he stopped moving. I put my face in my father's back as he continued to move us forward. We came to the entrance of the cave and were shot at a lot. They stopped when it was clear it wasn't hitting us at all.

"My turn," Dad said, and blasted everything within reach, terrorist, weapons, everything. They we blasted away as the whole compound exploded around us. We could fly for a little but didn't last too long before crashing into the desert.

"Not bad," He said, as he laid in the hot sand next to me. I looked over to him and saw him clutching his arm to his chest.

"You're hurt," I accused.

"So are you," he said as he stood up, "But now we gotta move."

"Yeah," I agreed, but as I stood up I felt a crippling pain rip across my stomach and I collapsed again.

"Dad!" I cried.

"What hurts?" He asked, kneeling next to me.

"My stomach," I whimpered. He lifted my shirt and what I saw almost made me sick. The area around the wound was a sickly red color, with the wound itself turning green a little. It was infected.  
"Rin, I need you to hold on for a little longer, okay?" He asked, almost begged. I nodded and stood up again, this time leaning on his good side. We didn't speak again as we walked for hours, neither one of us having the energy to do anything but walk. Then we heard the most beautiful sound in the world: a helicopter. It was a US Military one and flew right above us. I collapsed in relief as dad waved his hands around and yelled for them. They landed about twenty meters from us and dad sank to his knees next to me. Rhodey came running out of the copter and ran over to us, sinking to his knees as well and gathering us in a hug.

"How was the 'fun-vee'?" Rhodey asked. Dad let out a half laugh, half sob, as I just outright cried.

"Next time you ride with me," Rhodey said, to which both dad and I nodded.

"She needs medical," Dad said, "And fast."

"So do you," I bit back at him, feeling the exhaustion and pain about to take over, something both Rhodey and dad noticed.

"Don't fall asleep, Rin. That's an order," Dad said, looking panicked. Black spots dotted my vision.

"Ground me then," I groaned as I gave into sweet unconsciousness.


End file.
